Share and Follow

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Trump administration is using civil rights laws to wage a campaign against the University of California in an attempt to curtail academic freedom and undermine free speech, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by faculty, staff, student organizations and every labor union representing UC workers.

The lawsuit comes weeks after the Trump administration fined the University of California, Los Angeles $1.2 billion and froze research funding after accusing the school of allowing antisemitism on campus and other civil rights violations. It was the first public university to be targeted by a widespread funding freeze. The administration has frozen or paused federal funding over similar allegations against elite private colleges, including Harvard, Brown and Columbia.

According to the lawsuit, the Trump administration has made several demands in its proposed settlement offer to UCLA, including giving government access to faculty, student, and staff data, releasing admissions and hiring data, ending diversity scholarships, banning overnight demonstrations on university property and cooperating with immigration enforcement.

The Department of Justice didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the office of the UC system’s president.

The coalition is led by the American Association of University Professors union, or AAUP, and represented by Democracy Forward, a legal group that has brought other lawsuits against the Trump administration over frozen federal funds.

“The blunt cudgel the Trump administration has repeatedly employed in this attack on the independence of institutions of higher education has been the abrupt, unilateral, and unlawful termination of federal research funding on which those institutions and the public interest rely,” the lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco said.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has launched dozens of federal investigations also targeting K-12 school districts.

University of California President James Milliken said the federal government has also launched investigations and other actions against all of the UC’s 10 campuses but offered no details in a statement Monday.

“This represents one of the gravest threats to the University of California in our 157-year history,” he said, adding that the university system receives more than $17 billion each year in federal support, including nearly $10 billion in Medicare and Medicaid funding, and funding that goes toward research and student financial aid.

The Trump administration has used its control of federal funding to push for reforms at elite colleges that the president decries as overrun by liberalism and antisemitism. The administration also has launched investigations into diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, saying they discriminate against white and Asian American students.

This summer, Columbia University agreed to pay $200 million as part of a settlement to resolve investigations into the government’s allegations that the school violated federal antidiscrimination laws. The agreement also restored more than $400 million in research grants.

The Trump administration is using its deal with Columbia as a template for other universities, with financial penalties that are now seen as an expectation.

Share and Follow
You May Also Like
Exclusive | New York socialite snags Manalapan, Florida, mansion for $21 million

New York Socialite Acquires Lavish $21 Million Mansion in Manalapan, Florida

Prominent New York socialite and author Jean Shafiroff, along with her husband,…
Victim in deadly Stockton, California mass shooting identified as Amari Peterson; FBI offers up to $50,000 for suspects' capture

Breaking: FBI Offers $50K Reward as Amari Peterson is Identified in Stockton Mass Shooting

In Stockton, California, a tragic mass shooting on Saturday resulted in the…
911 call reveals what led to Luigi Mangione's arrest over CEO shooting

911 Call Sheds Light on Circumstances Leading to Luigi Mangione’s Arrest in CEO Shooting Incident

Luigi Mangione’s distinctively bushy eyebrows led patrons at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s to…
Ex-counselor Edmund Rivers charged with sexual assault of children at Hartgrove Behavioral Health Hospital in Chicago: prosecutors

Former Counselor at Chicago’s Hartgrove Hospital Faces Child Sexual Assault Charges

In a distressing revelation, a former counselor is accused of committing a…
Gaza militia leader forms rival force against Hamas, warns terrorists are regrouping amid ceasefire

Rival Forces Emerge in Gaza: Militia Leader Challenges Hamas Amid Ceasefire Concerns

EXCLUSIVE FROM FOX: In the wake of a ceasefire that Hamas is…
Luigi Mangione appears in court ahead of decision on key evidence

Luigi Mangione Makes Court Appearance as Pivotal Evidence Ruling Looms

Luigi Mangione exuded a positive demeanor as he returned to court, just…
Man shot, killed by Birmingham police identified

Birmingham Police Identify Man Fatally Shot in Recent Incident

In Birmingham, Alabama, authorities have identified the individual who was shot and…
Altadena, California man finds bear living in crawl space underneath home

Shocking Discovery: Bear Takes Up Residence in Altadena Man’s Crawl Space!

In a surprising turn of events, a man from Southern California recently…